Zetsuen no Tempest – 02

「彼女はとてもきれいだった、と少年は言った」 (Kanojo wa Totemo Kireidatta, to Shounen wa Itta)
“He Said She Was Very Beautiful”

With this second episode, if there’s one thing to note, it’s how similar many aspects were to the first. It didn’t quite possess the impact the premiere did, but there’s plenty of things to like with this series as a whole so far. For one, Bones continues to show why they’re such a good animation studio, giving us some flawlessactionscenes that really give corresponding scenes in the source material justice. Gotta love all those flash jumps and Kusaribe Natsumura’s (Suwabe Junichi) spear action (no pun intended). And not only that, Bones tops it off with some rather notable decisions in regards to how it’s choosing to adapt the source material, as they’re doing very well in adapting it, or at least ensuring that the major points of the source are maintained even when there’s something moved around or added in.

But that’s enough about Bones and the source material. Goin’ into the what we get in the episode itself, we get a little bit of a review and some additional supplements to the basic premise we received last episode, as well as some continued plot advancement as well. Mahiro and Yoshino return to the scene of Aika’s death in an attempt to find the killer using some of Hakaze’s reserve magic talisman, and it’s revealed that the killer seems to be a Kusaribe clan member. We don’t quite get much else at the moment, but it’s notable how everything just so happens to link together at this point (with Yoshino’s relationship to Aika giving him another link to Mahiro and his quest to find the killer being notable too). Combined with the Hamlet quote from last episode, which basically talked about the main character just so happened to be there, so he has a responsibility to rid the world of evil… and the show in general seems to be constructing some sort of subtle commentary on destiny and fate.

Notably, if there is one thing that’s for sure, is that I’m starting to find the contrast and similarity between both Yoshino and Mahiro particularly interesting. For one, they’re quite different in their personalities. Mahiro’s more quick to react and would do anything to achieve his goal, while Yoshino’s more reserved and more willing to accept things in general. At the same time though, they’re notably similar because while the ultimate goal of Mahiro’s quest is to find and kill Aika’s killer, both Mahiro and Yoshino outwardly say they’re not doing it for Aika and that the dead don’t feel anything/can’t do anything for the dead. And it’s just interesting how they’re both so contrasting in basic personality, yet share that one big thing… even though it seems like they’re both just saying the comments about the dead partially for show. Furthermore, it’s interesting how we can pretty much see how big of an effect Aika’s death has had on them, and how much their lives have changed so far as a result of it. Time is out of joint indeed.

Finally, if there’s one other thing I wanted to mention, it’s the continued ability of Zetsuen to mix in some comedy with the seriousness. The whole joke with Natsumura and Mahiro about learnin’ magic in a barrel… the thing about Mahiro not being trustworthy and Hakaze having some issues for trusting him anyway… the whole thing where Yoshino recovers his wallet without lifting a finger, then gets dissed by Fraulein for being a “corpse-robber”… just some nice moments that made me chuckle despite the fairly serious and straight forward nature of the series.

Overall, just a solid episode altogether, albeit this episode served more of a bridge and a source for the solidification of the plot more than anything. Looking forward, Zetsuen should be something worth watchin’, that’s for sure.

Author’s Note: Thanks to BakaMochi for providing the caps! :D In regards to coverage of Zetsuen, both BakaMochi and I hope to continue with permanent coverage of the series, but it is still not confirmed as this time. If confirmed, then you’ll most likely see an update on the main page news sidebar/schedule.

For whatever reason, I had this unwavering thought that Yoshino is the assassin. And oh boy, that made this episode one hell of a suspenseful ride for me, especially during that magic tracing scene. But the lack of Yoshino’s apprehensiveness whatsoever slight assuaged my theory, until I realized his collected demeanor might just be his best trait… It may not be too farfetched for Yoshino to be a part of the Kusaribe clan? Regardless of how misled I am, such a potentially false, lingering thought really had me on the edge of my seat for a second episode. Remarkable.

You really thought that he was the assassin? And you are not alone in this. Interesting. Wasn’t it already clear from the last episode that they were dating? Why would he kill her? If it is only a feeling you got I can understand but eh….

Didn’t suspect him for a second so I found your comment really weird. =P

just because they’re dating doesn’t mean that he’s not capable of doing it. and you know why most of us thought that it was him who killed her? it’s because of the atmosphere that the scene gave us. i for one was looking for a twist in the story that’s why i thought of the same thing, predictable as it may have been.

I didn’t question his ability to kill her just the motivation to do so. They looked happily in love with each other. His behavior can be explained because the brother mentioned his girlfriend. He didn’t know the girlfriend was his sister and told Yoshino to let him introduce her to him. That is what made Yoshino act so weird.

He was like: “Yeah I am going to introduce my girfriend to you… except she is dead and is your own sister so I can’t ever introduce you to her or even tell you that I was dating your sister.” That kinds of thought would naturally make people broody and depressed like Yoshino was behaving.

For some reason that thought popped up in my head too. Doesn’t seem to match up to his actions though. If he knew Mahiro is going to magic find the killer, wouldn’t he be heading into the lion’s den? You have to wonder what his indifference is shadowing though.

I don’t think we can quite count her out just yet. With the time motif that pops up both in the Hamlet quote the boys like to quote as well as the narration (in which Yoshino talks about getting caught up in a battle that transcends time and magic)… well, pretty much anything is fair game, right?

I agree the similareties and diffrences between our two main guys are really interesting to whatch ! am still very pleased of Mahiro’s character . He is not like your average typically copy\paste shounen heroes we’ve known , Bad boy – Angry all the time – likes to fight ,, but in the end he stays reasonable ! he hates unreasonable things , he cares for his friends which made me feel like he is more like a human badboy than an anime character in short .. his character is really deep .
and my assassin boy ^^ Yoshino ! lovvvve ~

Oh well, I like this show so much…
First, Mahiro, impulsive, vengeful brother who might have been a little too protective of his sister while she was alive… He really enjoys fighting more than necessary. Definitely an unlikely hero to save the world!
Secondly,Hakaze with her spunky attitude and delusions of grandeur… Well, she might be a powerful mage, but for now she’s forced to rely on backup talismans and unreliable ally.
Third, Fraulein Yamamoto , witch hunter amateur, with her quips about “single adult woman needing toys” – I live her character already!
But real gem is Yoshino, a true enigma with poker face. Now its perfectly clear deceased sister was his girlfriend, I was strongly suspicious of him being the killer. To a degree, I have my suspicions still. But I have another suspicion, namely that he might now try to use magic to no less than ressurect his dead girlfriend. To this end he might end up allying with one of two magical factions…

Yoshino feels quite a bit different from the source due to their padding of scenes. It’s making him out to be quite a lot more ineffective and more normal than he seemed in the manga.Show Spoiler ▼

In the manga, Yoshino went home and changed and started packing supplies and Yamamoto attacked him there. The start of the their fight was the same with him magically accelerating her into a wall but after that it differs. He immediately as soon as she starts to get up, kicks her and takes her gun and points it at her. Where we have the threatening scene like in the anime. She realizes that Yoshino really would shoot her and backs down and then he offers her the deal.

Well, I like this show. It does try too hard with forced Hamlet quotes, but I will let that one go and watch it. Besides it has kiritsugu in some girly looking red hairdo bad guy, so why the hell not?!!

This is just a hunch. But with all the Shakespeare allusions I have a feeling that aside from Hamlet(Mahiro) and Romeo(Yoshino) they also fused in some characters from Othello to make things a little more interesting…like say Mahiro being analogous to Othello and even more interesting the protagonist Yoshino being analogous to the Iago…which if true might just give a possible explanation what happened to Aika…and with the whole hullabaloo about time-we might just see it happen.

On another note: Can the ED get any more ironic?…Shakespeare…”Happy Endings”…lol.

Wow, I was not expecting it to be this good. Seriously, I just watched this because I really had nothing to do but boy, I was blown away. The story is a bit dark, but the animation is really good. I’ll be looking forward to this series.

I’m thoroughly enjoying this show so far. And even though yes, the Hamlet quotes sometimes feel slightly forced, I really like the relation to Shakespearean characters. Also, can I get a hold of some of those talismans? Cause I get jealous every time I see Mahiro and Yoshino use them lol.

So far this has been a terrific adaptation of the manga and I’ve really enjoyed it! The music has really stood out for me so far, I loved Michiru Oshima’s work in FMA and I recognise her style here. It gives an operatic, Shakespearean tone to the anime which of course is totally appropriate considering the title. Really can’t wait to see how they handle the rest, I have faith in Bones!

This show will disappoint many people, like Da5id. I like it personally, but I feel it will make whiners and critics… whine and critic. Why?Show Spoiler ▼

This series will Deus Ex Machina, like mad. Because the plot demands it, and that it will soon be everywhere. Yes I’m reading the manga.

Not that I abhor or hate it like that, in fact I added the series to my “auto update-me of any release” list, I love every part of the plot and everything that happened until now, but some people will have problems with it definitely.

K’s 2nd episode did move… into the Fan-service Zone, it sorta detracts from the supposed “seriousness” from episode one of someone being killed by a (supposed) lookalike or the fact he’s being hunted down OR the fact the dude have flash grenades in his bag FOR NO F***** REASON!!!

Zetsuen no Tempest and other shows this season impressed me and set the premise of their respective plot on the FIRST episode and kept the ball rolling on the 2nd episode, K on the other-hand had NONE of that going beyond the visuals and the 3rd episode preview leaves little plot and more fan-service, who doesn’t like a little fan-service but COME ON there’s a limit…